Bücher

Notes: A crossroads of reggae and punk; a travelogue of Jamaica, UK, and Japan from 1982 to 2023, written and photographed.

To resist is to live.

1982-2023. Jamaica, UK, Japan.

The intersection of reggae and punk.

There are photographs that take on new meaning as time passes.

The lifework of photographer Masataka Ishida, who has been following the world's rebel music.

A record of his 41-year journey in search of true freedom.

The first product from Type Slowly.

Cover photo: Ali Up (The Slits)

Characters in the book:

The Clash, Aswad, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Caron Wheeler, Lee Perry, Adrian Sherwood, Massive Attack, Goldie, M.I.A., Shabaka Hutchings and more

Format: A5 (161×210mm) / Softcover / Colour / 352 pages

Notes: The birth and growth of the Jamaican recording industry...

Records have played an integral part in the history of Jamaican music and the importance of making records, as opposed to making music, can never be overstated.

These are the stories, told through first-hand accounts wherever possible, of the men and women... manufacturers, musicians, arrangers and record producers... who made the records and who made the sound of reggae available worldwide.

"An absolutely crucial survey of the origins of the Jamaican music industry replete with chapter and verse quotes from many of the pivotal movers and shakers. A wealth of new information, expertly marshalled: this is a book whose time has come."

Steve Barrow- Co-author of 'Reggae The Rough Guide'

"Noel Hawks' history of Jamaican studios and the characters involved provides an intriguing insight into the development of ska, rock steady and reggae. His lifelong love and deep knowledge of the music prove to be invaluable assets as he takes us on a journey from the primitive 'direct-to-disc' mento recordings of the Fifties through to the sophisticated roots and dub reggae of the Seventies. As both a music fan and a reggae business insider he has had access to the main players in the Jamaican music scene, and this book offers a genuine and unique insight into Kingston's studios and the producers and musicians who worked in them."

Chris Lane- Fashion Records

"Any music reference book should balance knowledge of an expert and enthusiasm of a fan in roughly equal measure. Noel Hawks' 'Jamaican Recordings' unquestionably succeeds in doing both. The wealth of facts and information that Noel has amassed in almost fifty years of researching and collecting reggae and its musical antecedents are presented here in a way that will show any reader that Noel still gets as much pleasure out of finding new classic music, not to mention acquiring new know how about it, as he and others among us did when we started our individual collector odysseys.

'Jamaican Recordings' is a fine read and a book that anybody with more than a passing interest in Jamaican recordings will need to add to their library right away."

Tony Rounce- Author & Music Historian

Format: 188 Page Hardback Book Illustrated throughout with period photos, artefacts & record labels

Notes: Photographer and road warrior Hannah Verbeuren presents a vivid, lurid, rabid history of mysterious heavy-metal animals Midnight. Captured in explosive live, comically candid, and lurid fantasy settings, the hooded band plays with fire, swords, and naked bodies in settings ranging from European castles to the the smutty back alleys of their native Cleveland, OH. Essays by Verbeuren and Midnight main-man Athenar ring the bells and keep everything street.

Hardback book

Notes: Positive Influence was a hardcore fanzine done by Anji Lum and Buster Cates from San Pedro, CA, that existed from 1988-1989. This paperback anthology collects all six issues along with a new, 21-page introduction featuring never-before-seen photos, flyers, stories, ephemera, etc. You know the deal - every page of the original 'zines and then some, including interviews with Chain Of Strength, Free Will, Insted, No For An Answer, Operation Ivy, Reason To Believe, Slapshot, Uniform Choice, Up Front, Visual Discrimination, and more.

Notes: As the seventies drew to a close and the media declared punk dead and buried, a whole new breed of band was emerging from the gutter. Harder and faster than their '76-'77 predecessors, not to mention more aggressive and political, the likes of Discharge, The Exploited and G.B.H. were to prove not only more relevant but arguably just as influential. Several years in the making and featuring hundreds of new interviews and photographs, "Burning Britain" is the true story of the U.K. punk scene from 1980 to 1984 told for the first time by the bands and record labels that created it. Covering the country region by region, author Ian Glasper profiles legendary bands like Vice Squad, Angelic Upstarts, Blitz, Anti-Nowhere League, Cockney Rejects and the U.K. Subs as well as the more obscure groups like Xtract, The Skroteez and Soldier Dolls. The grim reality of being a teenage punk rocker in Thatcher's Britain resulted in some of the most primal and potent music ever committed to plastic. "Burning Britain" is the definitive overview of that previously overlooked era.

Notes: Seidel's groundbreaking book, which includes unique historical photographs, paints a vivid picture of the old Federal Republic of Germany, with all of its contradictions and struggles. What is now celebrated as Krautrock emerged in this environment, and at the time was an attempt to contribute the soundtrack to the revolution. As a fly onthe wall, Seidel recounts the squats, demos and first concerts of bands such as Cluster, Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel. Just as precisely and vividly, he recapitulates the influence of minimal music composers such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass, the origins of many Krautrock musicians in jazz and the role of the synthesiser.

Wolfgang Seidel delivers a captivating account on Krautrock that dispels many of the founding myths of the first genuinely German pop culture, which above all did not want to be German. In addition, the book is supplemented by a discography of the 50 most important Krautrock records, written by music journalist and Krautrock expert Holger Adam.

Translated from German by Alexander Paulick (member of influential Dusseldorf based avant-garde band Kreidler).

Notes: ***B-STOCK: Item shows signs of age***


New edition of Dancehall, Beth Lesser's seminal photography and style book capturing the rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture in the 1980s. The book also features a new introduction by the British fashion designer and art curator Duro Olowu.

Featuring 100s and 100s of amazing photographs - all with accompanying text, interviews and biographies,'Dancehall' is an essential reference book for anyone interested in Reggae and captures a previously unseen era of musical culture, fashion and lifestyle in stunning, vibrant colour.

Aside from the music, this book is as much about Jamaican fashion and style. Beth Lesser's Dancehall photographs in this book have directly influenced fashion brands including Aime Leon Dore ('Kingston 1983' collection), recent Levi's Vintage and Farah collections.

Dancehall is a culture that encompasses music, fashion, drugs, guns, art, community, technology, and more. Born in the 1950s out of the neighbourhood soundsystems of Kingston, Dancehall grew to its height in the 1980s before a massive influx of drugs and guns made the scene too dangerous for many. Today Dancehall remains at the centre of Jamaican musical and cultural life. From its roots in Kingston in the 1950s to its heyday in the 1980s, Dancehall conquered the globe spreading to the USA, UK, Canada, Japan, Europe and beyond.

In the early 1980s Jamaica was in the throws of political and gang violence - photographer Beth Lesser ventured where few other dared and this book is a never-before-seen record of the exciting, dangerous and vibrant world of Dancehall.

Living in Jamaica in the late 70s and early 80s she photographed and documented a cultural explosion as producers, singers, DJs and soundsystems who all made a living out of the slums of Kingston. With unprecedented access to the incredibly vibrant music scene during this period, Beth Lesser's photographs are a unique way into a previously hidden part of Jamaican culture.

Notes: Get pumped on inspirational love with the colouring book of the century, celebrating the romance of the millenium: "Henry & Glenn Forever". Includes all-new artwork by Tom Neely, Ed Luce, Jim Rugg, Mark Rudolph, Carmen Monoxide, Kristina Collantes, Scot Nobles, Matt Crabe, Tom Scioli, Beth Dean Rachel Adler, Keenan Marshall Keller, Tim Sievert, Katie Skelly, Alex Delaney, Rafer Roberts, Tom Forget, Don Pablo Pedro, Jeremy Owen, Willow Dawson, Shaky Kane, Gabe Martinez, Coop and Dino-Fucker. A companion to the hit classic comic "Henry & Glenn Forever" and new hardcover collection "Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever".

Paperback book

Notes: Close The App, Make The Ting is a collection of ideas shared by Elijah that began in July 2021, as the Covid 19 lockdowns were ending in the UK. They started as simple notes questioning what the music and creative scenes would look like after being shut down for 18 months shared regularly on Instagram, then developed into a multimedia project that spanned visual installations, an album with grime MC Jammz, a club night and a lecture series that toured the world.

Close The App, Make The Ting: Transformative Prompts for the Modern Artist brings together the best of the ideas and the projects they inspired. This book is for anyone producing or thinking of producing creative work, that needs something outside of ‘advice’, these are evergreen artistic prompts that will inspire new ways of approaching being an artist in the 2020s.

The book is 25cm x 25 cm, and the 144 pages are printed on premium heavyweight paper.

Notes: Take a trip through alien worlds and bizarre scenarios in a psychedelic Hero’s Journey of thrilling and surreal art from the mind of celebrated artist and composer Jem Panufnik. The Legend of Kaptain Karnival is a highly original lavishly illustrated book that also includes a CD soundtrack recorded under his Jem Stone moniker.

This highly original 94-page, lavishly illustrated book includes a specially created musical soundtrack with an array of incredible musicians including Ben Castle (Quincy Jones, Elton John, Hans Zimmer, Radiohead) and Dominic Glover (Incognito, Primal Scream, Brand New Heavies, Orbital), recorded under his Jem Stone moniker: the kind of deep, hypnotic and delicious grooves Mr Panufnik is renowned for.

The book is 24.5cm square and the 96 pages are printed and bound on heavyweight 150gsm paper with a hardback cover.

Notes: Existing for a few short years (1984 - 1988), El records was perhaps the most 'cult' of the UK so-called 'indie' labels. El records was created in 1984 by Mike Alway. Alway was A&R man for Cherry Red, signing artists such as Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set and Felt. Alway left Cherry Red to help run Blanco Y Negro (an offshoot of WEA) but soon felt constrained by the conservativism of the commercial music sector and left to set up his own label. El was once described as 'the most innately English record label there has ever been' and yet had a global appeal. Alway must be the only record label boss to have had four songs written about him.

Alway's mercurial approach was to take complete control of the repertoire, the philosophy of the label's releases and even the titles of songs in the manner of pop impresarios of the past. Alway became a curator, selecting, shaping and overseeing the records issued on El. He employed songwriters proficient in classical pop techniques such as Nicholas Currie (AKA Momus) and Philippe Auclair (AKA Louis Philippe) who in addition to issuing their own records wrote, arranged and performed for other el artistes and used creative talentssuch as photographer Nick Wesolowski and designer Jim Phelan to create the El "look".

El had a unique flavour eschewing the traditions of rock and indie music of the mid 1980s, exhibiting instead a taste for 1960s bubblegum and chamber pop, the European chanson tradition, Latin rhythms and film scores (one of El's key players was child prodigy Simon Turner who wrote music for the films of Derek Jarman).

The ethos of the label was decidedly un-macho and many of El's key artists were female. El's first single "I, Bloodbrother Be" by Shock Headed Peters was an uncompromising gay anthem. Alway saw El as a celebration of elegance and beauty, in his own words, "a pop world beyond leather jackets and jeans". While record sales were disappointing, this unique blend was critically acclaimed in the UK and popular in America and mainland Europe while in Japan El had a profound effect, directly influencing the Shibuya-kei phenomenon that included Pizzicato Five, Cornelius and Kahimi Karie.

Bright Young Things is the first book to tell the fascinating story of El, one of the most influential indie labels of all time.

Notes: Bill "Doc" Plaster grew up in Southern California, Punk Rock's epicenter during the early 80s. The origin story of Dr. Strange Records; the mail order, label and record store is at times sad, painful, and funny yet always heart felt. This book packs in tons of stories of "the good old days" and loads of never before seen photos from the Doc's personal 35mm camera of: Dead Kennedys, Bad Brains, GBH, The Dickies and more!

Notes: The heartfelt memoir of Ray Raghunath Cappo, a legendary hardcore-punk musician-turned-monk, told with warmth, candor, and humour. Ray was a hardcore-punk singer and pioneer of the straight-edge movement living on the Lower East Side of New York City in the '80s, where his band Youth Of Today and Shelter played to packed clubs and touched thousands of people across the globe. As his unusual adventure unfolded, he encountered extraordinary characters, witnessed deep acts of devotion, and experienced profound moments of divine connection, leading to a radical transformation that was ego-crushing and blissful all at once.

Notes: The only book to consider Oi! as a distinct genre within punk rock, What Have We Got? is the story of a musical movement that became a national concern in the eighties and still divides opinion today.

Drawing on new interviews with Sham 69, Angelic Upstarts, Cockney Rejects, Crown Court, Lion's Law, The Templars and many more, Simon Spence considers the genre's inception and noble intentions, how it fell into infamy, and where it lies now.

With a growing and formidable audience in the US, Europe, Asia, South America and the UK, Oi! is as alive as it has ever been, and without the far-right associations that plagued its past.

"A great book: doesn't beat around the bush and a fair account of the Oi! scene from day 1 to the present day" Graham Saxby, The Warriors

'A corker of a book. Spanning the whole history of the scene up until the modern day this book delivers, without bias, a real life glimpse of what we know and love.' Trevor Taylor, Crown Court

"Simon has hit the nail on the head: he did his research 100%. A lot of crap has been in written in the past so it's nice to see an accurate account of the scene." Chris Wright, Crashed Out

"Great book breaking down the history of this music genre and the trouble that has shadowed it since the beginning... stories galore & nice glossy pics as well" Phil Templar

"A well written and thoroughly researched book, with stories and recollections from people who were actually there" Deptford John

Notes: Murray Bowles photographed Bay Area punk for four decades, capturing its infectious energy, wild creativity, and ragged tenderness everywhere he found it.

From San Francisco's Mabuhay Gardens to Berkeley's 924 Gilman- and the countless basements, backyards, and warehouses in between- Murray was there, camera in hand, the scene's beloved documentarian.

Collected here for the first time, Murray's classic images chronicle a uniquely dynamic and enduring music community in all its chaos and glory.

Featuring hundreds of images of bands such as Green Day, Operation Ivy, Neurosis, Crimpshrine, the Dead Kennedys, MDC, Special Forces, Social Unrest, Spit Boy, Melvins, Gwar, Soundgarden, NOFX, The Offspring and many, many more.

This collection of photographs documents and celebrates the punk music scene from the early 1980s through the mid-1990s.

Hail Murray
The Bay Area Punk Photography of Murray Bowles, 1982-1995
By Murray Bowles
Edited by Anna Brown
Introduction by Aaron Cometbus

Hardcover, 270 pages, 12 x 9 landscape